Cancer support thread #74 - come in, we're here for you.

[Hippiechick162]

Welcome to the new support thread for anyone who has cancer, at whatever stage of treatment, is worried about symptoms, or is waiting for tests or results.

This is the place to worry, moan, ask questions, share experiences and good and bad news, and celebrate milestones!

If you've got a loved one with cancer then your best place for support is probably on the Life-Limiting Illness board.

Our previous thread iswww.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/3760336-Cancer-support-thread-73-come-in-were-here-for-you

Current members, please do introduce yourselves smile

Hello and welcome and commiserations to new visitors to the Patience Inn.
@citybumpkin I am really sorry you are having such a hard, anxious time; life has certainly thrown far too much at you over the last few years. As others have said, stage 1 is as good as it gets for early diagnosis. Glad to hear you are getting good, prompt treatment and appointments, free tea and coffee is a bonus (I've always had excellent coffee in the Netherlands, hope hospital brew is up to standard!).
@LemonsNVod hope you can maintain the calm for the next couple of weeks. There are so many kind and knowledgeable women with breast cancer here to help you if you need it.
@TheFormidableMrsC I hope you get a diagnosis soon, and a treatment plan if necessary. Also that you have a good support network to help you and your DS if you do have cancer.
@aphrodites again I hope you get the breast clinic appointment soon. Did you find the lump yourself?

And to catch up with people I've met already; good luck to everyone with appointments tomorrow - @Thatsalargeagegap, @Sooverthemill, @Zorgothslugofdoom (sorry you have been in hospital again, hope the dire rear has calmed down), and @daisypond.
@Piggles39 congrats on finishing chemo! Hope the rather miserable post-treatment stage is reasonably short and tolerable. What are you looking forward to most?
Also post-chemo congrats to @Squiffy01, and post-rad cheers to @digerd.
Very good healing wishes to @BrowniesAreSuper and @Hippiechick162, recovering from surgery.
@SisyphusLangClegRocks hope you get your appointment at St George's soon.
@Nonotmenori so sorry you have to worry about work, on top of everything else. Hopefully they will do the right thing.
@peaceanddove how crap to have results delayed so much. Much sympathy.
@Thymeout it is ridiculous that you are having to do long bus journeys for blood tests, hope as others have suggested that you can get them done locally.
@Trumpton sorry to hear your surgery will be bigger than expected, but the surgeon does sound great - good to have Hippiechick's recommendation, eh?
@barberousbarbara good idea to ask for psychotherapy, hope that comes through soon. How's the chemo treating you?
@BitOfFun half a set of new shiny teeth is something, I guess! Have you been able to eat anything other than yoghurt, yet?
@romola sorry you are feeling so crap post chemo. Hope you can just take it easy.

I think that's it for now, apols to anyone I've missed. I have nothing to report - knee still a bit dodgy but nothing to worry about. Going away for a few days on Wednesday, really looking forward to it.

I missed @Babysharkdoodoodood! Lots of sympathy to you, have you got any way of making the pain manageable? Hope the kidney scan was OK yesterday. Also that you can get blood sugar down.

I'll second @bloodybridget message. Hope you're all ok and if you don't want to post that's fine. Just know that people are here for you.
At genetics appointment tomorrow xxx

@Bloodybridget, I've somehow managed to find a way to pack the calories in . I've sent you a PM.

Thanks @Bloodybridget!

The chemo consultant took a look at me during my final session on Friday and said I could have surgery in 3 weeks’ time rather than 4 (clearly I looked better than I felt!) but I won’t know until I have more scans and then see the surgeon on the 19th what surgery I’ll be having or exactly when it’ll be. If the tumours have carried on shrinking it might not need to be a full mastectomy but I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much.

I’m hoping the side effects of chemo hurry up and wear off so I can have at least a few days feeling ok before surgery. We’ve booked a nice meal out for later this month in the hope food tastes normalish again by then and I’ll have enough stamina not to fall asleep into my plate...

Has anyone got any positive stories for those diagnosed with TNBC? I wanted to live until I was at least 90 but now just keep thinking I will be lucky if I get a few months.

@Bloodybridget Thanks. The kidney scan was uncomfortable. Lie in my front in the 'superman' position whilst holding my breath intermittently. Then putting the cannula in! My veins on my right are screwed thanks to the chemo and they can't use my left due to mastectomy.

She found a teeny tiny one by my little finger and scuse language but fuck me, it hurt! Pic attached to show where they stuck it.

Then lying flat on back with arms above my head for ages whilst the iodine went in and more scanning and breath holding. My arms are sore today. So minor discomfort in the scheme of things. But got home and slept for 3 hours.

Going to call Cigna to book the biopsy and ureterocele piercing tomorrow.

Pic didn't attach lol

Never had a cannula there before, but vein has now collapsed today. Joy.

Bless you @Babysharkdoodoodood . They never find my veins either, my last one was in the side of my foot!
Rest up and good luck xxx

@Bloodybridget Thanks. I have my first psychotherapy session on Tuesday. Hopefully it will be useful. Chemo is still rough but the tumour is shrinking. Just counting down the weeks. 4 cycles left to go.

@citybumpkin I'm only part way through my TNBC treatment but I'm already getting a good response to the chemo. I'm part of a clinical research trial for TNBC and the trial Facebook page is full of people who had a total response (no tumour detected at the end of chemo) and are 2-3 years down the line living a normal life.

Okay so I'm trying to be positive or rather prepare for whats to come. I want to feel as normal as possible during all this and am freaking out about hair loss. I've got crap eyebrows so they are guaranteed to fall out. Thinking about microblading. Anyone else bothered with this? If so, before or after chemo?

@citybumpkin I went to a Look Good Feel Better session at my hospital. They give you a goody bag of products and go through it all with you especially eyebrows.

And tbh the hair loss didn't bother me after all the other indignities, and my hair really was my crowning glory: halfway down my back. I went to Toni & Guy for a Pixi cut before starting chemo and they also trimmed my wig for me.

And then I couldn't wear it as it was so hot and itchy. I went to tkmaxx and invested in som beautiful Missoni scarves and got a dab hand at wrapping them. Also some huge sunglasses and then styled it out with red lipstick.

Oh, and it's great not having to shave legs and pits, not to mention a painless brazilian

@Babysharkdoodoodood I'm not averse to indignities, been there and done that in my time. Also not in the UK so the hospital won't do the same things plus all in another language. I want to wake up from this horrible dream.

@Bloodybridget I found it myself, I've had the lump for quite a few months now, I can't remember when I first noticed it, I've had mastitis so many times that I always just put it down to that, my latest bout has completely cleared up now but I was told to get a check up because I've had it so often and I mentioned to the doctor that there seems to be a lump, she had a feel and wasn't much help she said she had no idea what it could be but it doesn't feel like an abscess more like scar tissue apparently. I'm hoping it's just blocked up ducts or similar, I have the lump and then a straw like lump leading towards my armpit. It doesn't hurt which I'm hoping is a good sign!

@Babysharkdoodoodood I'm sorry your vein has collapsed, cannulas are horrible, on a more positive note I love your nails.

@citybumpkin try and take things one step at a time, it must be overwhelming trying to take it all in at once and try to figure out what will happen in the future, especially as nerves make us jump to the worst conclusions.

Hi everyone, I just want to gauge opinions here. 6 years ago I sold my house. I know the person that bought the house and she has my forwarding address. Now my elderly aunt has forgotten I've moved house and has sent me a "get well soon" card with some cash in and a bunch of flowers. She has sent them to my old address (confirmed by the flower delivery service). The woman who lives in my old house says she has never got anything, the flower people say they delivered both the flowers and the card. I'm not bothered about the flowers or cash etc but my aunt is getting on and she has written me a card and note that I would like to see. Would I be unreasonable to go round again and ask her to check with her partner? Feeling miffed at this because I would never take in flowers that weren't for me, I'd ask the delivery person to check the address with the sender again.

There are quite a few of us in London, but no-one except me at Barts?
@Babysharkdoodoodood over 4 months post chemo, I now have more pubic hair, and eyebrows, than before the whole thing started! Sorry the scan and cannula business was so uncomfortable.

Babyshark I too had a Renal CT, but not the iodine as am allergic to it. It was over a year ago before my Radiotherapy but op was cancelled twice and eventually went ahead in March19. You have the added -complication that i did not have - as far as I know- and that is your Urethrocele. Good decision to go privately. How long will you stay in the hosital do you know?
My first op I was out the next day, but 6weeks later i had to stay in 4 days. My last biopsy a month ago was just a day case.
Good luck.

Can anyone reassure me? My boob feels quite painful and tender today. I stopped wearing my ultra support post surgery bra yesterday and swapped to a softer bra but wondering if it was too soon. I had my surgery 3 weeks ago tomorrow.

Just got back from seeing the surgeon - my operation will be on Tuesday 24th March, and I'll have quite a few appointments before for pre-OP, dye, etc. My latest scan showed that my tumours have both shrunk again, which is fantastic news! The surgeon also said he can do a different type of operation, where he will remove the cancer and reshape the breast, then reduce and lift my other one (so will, in effect be a breast reduction) - which should be quicker to recover from, and also help with my age old problems of neck/back pain, as I should end up a C/D cup (rather than F!).

Got a pre-OP appointment on thursday, so will be asking about what type of bra to get, etc. Any tips from those who have had surgery?

@zorgothslugofdoom that's the operation I've just had, a therapeutic breast reduction. I've gone from a 34G to roughly a 34DD, and my boob is now 3 inches higher up my torso. My boobs were never this pert even when I was 20! 'll have the other one operated on to match after radiotherapy.

I bought the M&S ultra sports bra with front zip. But the 34G was far too snug around the ribs and really so is the 36G I've been wearing. I should have got the 38. If you have any questions I'm happy to help x

@Hippiechick162 I'm so sorry your card got misdelivered on top of everything else. My dotty cousin also sent me a lovely card, to my old address which we have just collected. Some people will do the right thing.
X

It really helps reading these threads. Thank you, all. I had my pre-op assessment for guided wire excursion yesterday and a talk with my breast care nurse. They are concerned about my blood pressure, and now can’t admit me as a day case. I’m off to the GP this morning to see about getting it lowered. My cancer is rare, a sub-group of a sub-group. Because it is a form of lobular cancer, there is no lump and it doesn’t show on ultrasound or standard 2D mammogram. It was only picked up because I was part of a randomised trial, and by chance I got a 3D scan as opposed to the standard 2D. It shows in the 3D scan. I suppose I was lucky to have it picked up at all.

Had 2 biopsies yesterday and feel like I've been kicked by a horse today but my good news is that the specialist nurse is 99% sure the broth isn't malignant. I'm very relieved and thank you everyone for your kindness. Have to go back for removal but not back in cancer conveyor belt.
Wishing everyone luck and kindness and the best possible outcomes,